What Does Psalm 10:6 Mean in the King James?
He hath said in his heart, I shall not be moved: for I shall never be in adversity.
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
The promise “I shall not be moved” is a heart’s own decree of permanent safety, not proof that it cannot lose its footing.
THE MEANING
The heart declares itself permanently secure: it will not lose its footing, and harm will never reach it. Stretching that claim across every generation turns confidence into a promise no human heart can guarantee. The verse exposes this certainty as imagined invulnerability, not safety.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
I can guarantee that trouble will never touch me simply by deciding I am beyond it.
THE ROOT
אֶמּוֹט
emmot
GROWS FROM
מוט
To totter, slip, or lose one’s footing.
The word rendered “moved” is about tottering or slipping, like a foot losing firm ground. The heart claims it will never lose its footing, extending that boast through every generation.
ALSO GROWS
timmot: She or it will totter.
תִּמּוֹט
This form of the same verb appears in Psalm 46:5, where a city’s stability is described with the same language of not being shaken.
yimmot: He or it will totter.
יִמּוֹט
Psalm 15:5 uses this form in “shall never be moved,” showing that the same root can describe either tottering or remaining firm.
בְּרָעָה
beraʿah
GROWS FROM
רעע
To be bad or cause harm.
“adversity” in this verse is beraʿah. The word belongs to the רחב family of רַע, “bad, evil, harm,” and can also mean calamity or trouble. The heart’s claim reaches beyond avoiding a bad season: it says harm itself will never touch it.
ALSO GROWS
raʿ: Bad, evil, or harmful.
רַע
This broader form shows that “adversity” belongs to the same word family as evil and harm.
hēraʿ: To do harm or act wickedly.
הֵרַע
This verb makes the connection active: the word family can name both harm suffered and harm done.
THE PATTERN
Scripture distinguishes self-declared permanence from stability grounded in God or received from God.
I have set the LORD always before me: because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved.Cast thy burden upon the LORD, and he shall sustain thee: he shall never suffer the righteous to be moved.Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear:THE THREAD
And in my prosperity I said, I shall never be moved.This verse repeats the same Hebrew verb, מוט (mot), “to totter,” and nearly the same declaration. The echo reveals how present security can become a claim of permanent immunity, the same certainty Psalm 10 makes explicit as never being in adversity.
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